As Teddy Bridgewater likely seeks a chance to start next season, here are the five best fits for him in NFL free agency.
Once upon a time, Teddy Bridgewater was one of the promising young quarterbacks in the NFL. The Minnesota Vikings won a division title in his first full season as a starter, and a strong 2016 preseason brought promise of good things to come.
But a severe left knee injury just before the start of that regular season derailed Bridgewater’s career, and his final snaps with the Vikings came in garbage time of a blowout win late in the 2017 season. He signed with the New York Jets as a free agent last offseason, and then late in the preseason he was traded to the New Orleans Saints.
Bridgewater spent the season as Drew Brees’ backup, with a start in Week 17 with the Saints having nothing to gain as the top seed in the NFC. There was the expected amount of rust (14-for-22 for 118 yards with a touchdown and an interception), for a quarterback would had not seen extended action in a meaningful game since January of 2016.
So teams in the market for a quarterback have one, not particularly useful, recent game on which to evaluate Bridgewater. But he could find an opportunity to compete for a starting job, in a thin market for quarterbacks this offseason, and Bridgewater is still only 26 years old.
As Bridgewater hits the open market, these five teams should have interest in the former first-round pick.
5. New York Giants
The Giants have a decision to make on Eli Manning, with a reported “most likely scenario” he will open the 2019 season as the starting quarterback. But finishing the campaign as the starter stands as a separate question, with the Giants definitely in the mix to draft a quarterback in April or add another veteran signal caller before then.
Giants head coach Pat Shurmur came in as Minnesota’s tight ends coach between the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and he eventually became offensive coordinator for roughly a season and a half. So there some level of presumed mutual familiarity here, even though Bridgewater never started a game for the Vikings with Shurmur as offensive coordinator.
A full parting of ways with Manning this offseason would open the door for Bridgewater to sign with the Giants, and at minimum compete for the starting job with a presumed incoming rookie. But from another perspective, Bridgewater could be brought in as the direct competition for Manning, and the quarterback of the future himself.